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PDB Afternoon Bulletin | October 22nd, 2025: Ukraine’s ‘Massive’ Storm Shadow Strike & Kim Jong Un’s Missile Show
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True to form, North Korea just launched a volley of short range missiles ahead of President Trump's visit to the peninsula. But first, today's afternoon spotlight as the debate over the potential deployment of U. S made Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine continues to Western made missiles are already being deployed against targets inside Russia. Ukraine's Air force says it carried out what it called a massive combined missile strike on a Russian chemical plant this week using British supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles. The target was deep inside Russia's Bryansk region, a site that produces gunpowder explosives and rocket fuel components for Moscow's military. According to Kyiv, the strike was conducted jointly by Ukraine's air, ground and naval forces, an unusually coordinated operation that officials say penetrated Russia's layered air defense systems. They called it a quote, successful strike, though the full extent of the damage is still being assessed. For context, the Storm Shadow is a long range air launched cruise missile developed by Britain and France, is capable of flying more than 150 miles at low altitude to evade radar. Its guidance system uses GPS and terrain mapping and infrared imaging to strike hardened high value targets with precision. Now, as we've previously reported, the UK first transferred Storm Shadows to Ukraine last year and London gave explicit permission for them to be used inside Russian territory. That distinction matters because other Western nations, most notably the US have placed strict limits on how their weapons can be used, largely to avoid escalating the war beyond Ukraine's borders. This latest strike shows that Ukraine isn't waiting for those restrictions to change and it's not waiting for Tomahawks either. While Washington continues to debate whether to provide longer range American missiles, Ukraine is making do with what it already has. The Bryansk strike also comes with symbolic weight. It was a deliberate hit on Russia's defense industrial base and an effort to choke the supply chain that fuels its ongoing assault. What Ukrainian officials described as, quote, a blow to the heart of the Russian war economy. And it's worth noting that particular facility had already been sanctioned by the UK Back in September for producing materials used in missiles and ammunition. Now, Moscow's reaction has been, as you might imagine, predictable. The regional governor, Bryansk, claimed that air defenses intercepted dozens of Ukrainian drones. He said 57 were destroyed and that there were no casualties or damage on the ground. But as with most Russian wartime claims, there's little independent verification or evidence to support their version of events. Storm Shadow missiles are designed for exactly this sort of campaign, disrupting an adversary's ability to produce, move, and deploy weapons of war. And for Russia, that's an uncomfortable reminder that its industrial rear is no longer safe. Now, to be clear, this latest strike won't fundamentally change the battlefield overnight, but it does underscore two important shifts. First, Ukraine is increasingly focusing on strategic long range strikes meant to degrade Russia's ability to sustain the fight. And second, the West's tolerance for these cross border operations appears to be expanding, at least among those supplying the weapons, in this case, the U.K. meanwhile, in response, Russia continues to hammer Ukrainian cities. In the past 48 hours, Moscow launched waves of missiles and drones against Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv. Ukrainian officials say at least seven people were killed, including children, and their critical energy infrastructure was damaged in at least 10 regions. President Zelensky called the attacks vile, saying they proved that diplomacy alone will not stop Moscow. And that contrast, the strike on a military target inside Russia versus Russia's ongoing bombardment of civilian neighborhoods inside Ukraine illustrates how both sides are fighting two different kinds of war. For Ukraine, every precision strike on a weapons plant is a message to its Western partners, We can use your technology responsibly and effectively. For Russia, every missile fired at an apartment block or a hospital or a school is a message of terror to Ukrainians and perhaps to its own people, that this war is far from over. So while the Tomahawk debate continues in Washington, the battlefield reality has already changed. The era of Ukraine striking deep inside Russia with Western weapons isn't coming. It's already here. Coming up next, North Korea fires off a volley of missiles just days before President Trump lands in South Korea for his anticipated meeting with Xi Ping. More on Kim Jong Un's latest show of force when we come back. Hey, Mike Baker here. 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Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. It's part missile test, part message. North Korea broke five months of silence with a fresh round of short range launches today, timed just as President Trump readies for his trip to the Korean Peninsula. According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missiles were fired from an area south of Pyongyang and flew roughly two hundred and twenty miles northeast before slamming into the ground rather than their typical landing spot out in the Pacific Ocean. South Korean officials said they detected movement near known launch sites earlier in the day, prompting a spike in military readiness. Seoul, in a statement following the launch, said its forces remained fully prepared to respond in coordination with the U.S. japan's new prime minister said Tokyo is, quote, in close communication with Washington and Seoul, confirming that the three allies are sharing real time missile warning data. The timing was no accident. Trump's Asian swing begins later this week and Pyongyang clearly wanted to mark the occasion. President Trump's itinerary is loaded. It includes stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, capped by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and a high stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where trade and Taiwan and missile deterrence sit at the center of the planned discussion. Trump is also expected to meet South Korean President Lim Jae Myung. The two reportedly discussed extending an invitation to Kim Jong Un for a brief meeting during Trump's visit, though no word on whether that invitation was actually extended. Inside the White House, aides debated whether Trump should make a stop at the demilitarized zone, the dmz. But again, no final decision has been made. Still, it is familiar territory for Trump. He met with Kim three times during his first term in what was billed as a historic diplomatic breakthrough. But those talks, well, later collapsed when Washington insisted on the regime's full denuclearization before lifting sanctions. Since then, Kim has pressed ahead with his weapons program in defiance of UN Resolutions. He's made sure the world is watching his arsenal grow and advance in sophistication, in part due to North Korea's growing ties with Russia and the resulting weapons technology transfer. As our regular PDB listeners will remember, the last missile test from Kim's regime back in May, simulated nuclear counter strikes against U.S. and South Korean forces. And then, of course, came the country's military parade earlier this month. Quite the festive occasion. An 80th anniversary spectacle of the Workers party doubled as a weapons expo. Kim unveiled what state media called the, quote, most powerful nuclear strategic weapons system yet. That would be the song 20. It's an intercontinental ballistic missile believed capable of carrying multiple warheads and reaching the US Mainland. Sources on the peninsula say a test could come within months. In his parade speech, Kim vowed that his forces would, quote, continue to evolve into an invincible force that eliminates all threats. This parade also showcased a mix of short range cruise and hypersonic missiles, all designed to keep Washington guessing as to the extent of Pyongyang's arsenal. And that, my Friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Wednesday 22nd October. Now if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb@the first tv.com and of course to listen to the show ad free. Well, you can do that and it's very, very simple. And just become a premium member of the President's Daily brief by visiting PDB premium.com I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.